Police arrest four alleged pickpocket-gang members

Pattaya police arrested a gang of suspected pickpockets who worked as a team on a baht bus to separate an American man from his $5,000.

Transvestite Buncha Yosyingyong, 28, and three female alleged accomplices Pinphit Khumsaeng, 28, Tuanjai Chotang, 30, and Cherry Detchlay, 23, were apprehended in separate arrests July 19. A total of 150,000 baht was seized.

Pattaya police were able to arrest a gang of suspected pickpockets after they pilfered money from John Wale whilst on a baht bus.

The arrests came after John Wale, 60, reported to police that he’d been pickpocketed on a baht bus. Buncha was found a short-time later standing on South Road.

Gangs of pickpockets frequently work Pattaya’s baht buses. Typically, the scam involves several women, usually with large shopping bags, sitting close to a victim, creating a distraction while one person – in this case the transvestite – doing the actual wallet lift.

Police said Buncha had admitted to serial pickpocketings, passing off the cash to the different women to prevent being caught.